Alfred Drake

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Alfred Drake (October 7, 1914 - July 25, 1992) was an American actor and singer.

Born Alfred Capurro in New York City, Drake was a Broadway performer best known for his leading roles in the original Broadway productions of such American musicals as Oklahoma!, Kiss Me, Kate, and Kean, and for the roles of Marshall Blackstone in the original production of Babes in Arms (in which he sang the title song) and Hajj in Kismet.

Drake was mostly a stage and television star; he starred in only one film,Tars and Spars, but played several roles on television. His 1964 stage performance as Claudius in the Richard Burton Hamlet was filmed live on the stage of the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, using a "quickie" process called Electronovision, and shown in movie theatres in a very limited engagement. It was also recorded on LP. Today's audiences may remember him as the bearded and bespectacled President of the Exchange, who eventually fires Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy in the 1983 Eddie Murphy-Dan Aykroyd film Trading Places.

Alfred Drake died of cancer in New York City at the age of 77.

[edit] Theatre credits

The Gondoliers (1935)
The Yeomen of the Guard (1935)
The Pirates of Penzance (1935)
The Mikado (1935)
White Horse Inn (1936)
Babes in Arms (1937)
The Two Bouquets (1938)
One for the Money (1939)
The Straw Hat Revue (1939)
Two for the Show (1940)
As You Like It (1941)
Oklahoma! (1943)
Sing Out, Sweet Land (1944)
Beggar's Holiday (1946)
The Cradle Will Rock (1947)
Kiss Me, Kate (1948)
Joy to the World (1948)
The Liar (1950)
The King and I (1952)
The Gambler (1952)
Kismet (1953)
Kean (1961)
Zenda (1963)
Lorenzo (1963)
Hamlet (1964)
Those That Play the Clowns (1966)
Song of the Grasshopper (1967)
Gigi (1973)
The Skin of Our Teeth (1975)

Preceded by Thomas Mitchell for Hazel Flagg	Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical 1954 for Kismet	Succeeded by Walter Slezak for Fanny